START NOW PINOY

Mañana habit which means leaving aside for tomorrow what we can do today; is one of the negative traits that we Filipinos have. But I think that not only Filipinos have this problem, but it is common to so everyone else. Procrastination!!

Procrastination

Are we a procrastinator? “Procrastination” is the state that many of us want to live in, to live in our comfort zone.

It is the only “nation” that when we chose to be its resident, it will kill our hopes and eventually our dreams die with us. It is where we stop to pursue to reach that unreachable stars.

All of us have different stars to follow. But what is missing in that stars is the letter “T“. Add T in our stars and the journey to reach that dream begins. What is this missing T? It means”TODAY”. Yes, we have to start it now.

SIMPLIFY & SPECIFICALLY STATE YOUR DESTINATION

Where do we want to go? what we want to achieve in our relationship? in our career? in our service to our ministries… in our communities… in our families… in our finances… in our retirement? and in our investment… What are our stars? Are these stars leading us to Bethlehem? Simplify and be specific. We cannot just be at the airport and be on board a plane without having our boarding pass. We have to know our destination. When we ride the jeepney, the driver will ask about our destination and we cannot simply say “take me anywhere”. A double-minded man should not expect to receive what he asked. Make a bucket list of destinations of what we want to achieve these years and ahead. When we board the right plane, we are not worried.

TAKE A CONCRETE ACTION

We have to make a resolution. The decision was followed by concrete actions. We have to start our journey. A thousand miles begin with a single step. We have to work toward the accomplishment and fulfillment of our dreams. We have to walk towards our stars. The magi did not waste time but rather rode their camels and began their expedition. Time is always a part of the accomplishment of our dreams. The time lost will just be history. The time we have is present and what we have is a gift that we can turn into something tangible. Faith without action is dead. We don’t just dream the impossible dream but we make a resolve that we’re willing to march into difficulties and hardship, scorned and be covered with scars.

What makes it good is that little by little every day, with constant doing it, it becomes a habit. Concrete action becomes part of our life, that’s why in the process, it becomes easy for us to do. Remember the first time you ride a bicycle or drive a car. In the beginning, we thought we cannot do it. But when we learned it, we can do it with ease. I observe some people who can send text messages while driving.

ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE AND AVOID TOXIC PEOPLE

Like the three magi, they had studied the stars. They discussed it among themselves its meaning. We are planning and we aim for a happy relationship then we learn from our past. Learn from others. Ask those couples who have a happy and successful marriage. You want to be successful and prepare for your finances and retirement, then start to save and invest. Learn the craft of investing as there are some instruments we can start investing that require small capital which offers a high return. Learn what is risk in investing and how we could minimize that risk. Many of us fail to start because we listen to people who don’t have the actual hands-on on that craft. Why don’t invest because your friend who doesn’t invest told you not to because it is risky and the market is sluggish and volatile? Why listen to a friend on how to fix your relationship if you know that he is not in a relationship.

Like the three magi, they don’t listen to Herod. Avoid toxic people. Listen to the voice that leads you in the right direction. Learn from the expert in that field. Find a mentor, and look for a coach. Most successful people have their coach with them. Avoid toxic people, they will steal your hope, they will slow down your pace, and they will kill your aspiration. They will drag your morale down. They will shut off your adrenaline. Misery loves sympathy. They don’t want you to be happy. They don’t want you to be successful. Acquire knowledge and skills and look for teachers, and councilors and they will be your ally. The Kung fu kid had Miyagi, the Skywalker has Obiwan Kinobe, the Chicago bulls had Phil Jackson, Manny Pacquiao has Freddie Roach, renowned spiritual leaders have their Spiritual Director…….

REGAIN YOUR CONFIDENCE AND REAFFIRM YOUR COMMITMENT

The toxic people will take our confidence. Be committed and our confidence will follow. Surround ourselves with positive allies. Let that energy flows within our veins. Unleash the DNA in us. Be committed to following that stars. Daily browse your bucket list of goals until it sinks into your subconscious mind. Let it sinks the universe will work towards the accomplishment of those goals, of that dreams. Let it be your beacon, a guiding light, walking it past towards the fulfillment of it. Work on our relationship, it will be hard to restore the trust if we lost it. Maybe that love has died because we fail to nurture and nourish it. To save a man from dying due to loss of blood is to give him drops of blood, same as to save a dying relationship is to kindle it with tiny sparks of love. Be committed to every single good and right thing and we will see its fruits.

Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose courage because we have not received the spirit of timidity but courage. Be inspired always. Picture out those heroes we have to let that passion burn. Again in the lyrics of the song the Impossible dream, it says “to run where the brave dare does not go… to fight the unbeatable foe.. to die with his last ounce of courage.. to reach the unreachable stars.”

Forget the past for our past does not define our future. Let not disappointments, failures, and unhappy memories linger in our thoughts as this will pull us down. Use all of these as a springboard to transit us beyond and above the fulfillment of our goals.

God believes in our ability more than we believe in Him. As it says ‘let the weak say I am strong”. “Let the poor say I am rich”…

TRUST GOD TO TAKE YOU THERE

Man plans but God direct his ways. Trust in His Words that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Don’t think that it was over. We have our dreams, it is good. We have the knowledge and we regain our confidence is a plus factor. But we should not be engulfed with this without entrusting everything to the Lord. Let us lay down our plans and let them work according to the plans and will of God for us.

Our confidence and hope come from the very promise of His word that God works for the good of those people who love him. That his plan for us is not to harm us but to prosper us. There are times, we don’t know His blueprint. We cannot clearly see the picture of His plans but He allows us to glimpse the picture. Joseph may not understand at first why he was sold by his brothers to be a slave in Egypt, worked hard and diligently yet ended up in prison for years. But he trusts God…..

When I was a “Sorbetero” an ice cream vendor, there was a place where I have to be climbed and pushed hard the karo or ice cream cart up to that stepped road. Every 3 o’clock I have to do it and I find relief every time I reached the top because from there I could see the place where I came from in the morning. There I would pray “Lord thank you and not all time I will be a Sorbetero!”

Trust God to take you where you want to go. Trust God and lean not on our own understanding.

NOW is for NO ONE WILL BUT YOU

Always a part of our stars is to incorporate the T-word which is “today”. The journey starts when we decide to let this dream be a reality. It is when we include ourselves to be part of that dreams.

We cannot simply entrust the accomplishment of that dreams to others because they have their own. The fulfillment of your dreams lies in you. It needs your active participation. “Nasa Diyos ang awa nasa tao ang gawa”, the grace is from the Lord but the action is ours.

We cannot simply say we want a happy relationship without investing our time in it. Or you cannot say I want to retire young and prepare for my retirement without starting your savings programs and setting aside something for your retirement now. You cannot say I want to be a good singer without honing your own talent. If you fail in a relationship, you cannot be able to move on unless you start forgetting the past and entertaining new people in your life. You cannot let go of the past unless you decide to break that chain that makes us slaves.

No one will but us. The enemy sometimes is not others but mostly it is ourselves. No one will help us unless others see our effort to help ourselves.

Where we will get that strength? St Paul says, ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

We have to involve ourselves so that later on, we will not blame our misfortunes on others.

Let us start now to live our dreams.

 

May your journey be full.

Mike Sendon